Now then now then - RIP JImmy Saville

You'll probably have to be a Brit and a child in the 1970s to have known what a star Jimmy Saville was. Outlandish white hair, big cigar (those were the days when there was tobacco on kids' shows, let alone TV in general) and trademark treacle-thick Leeds-accented catchphrases 'now then now then', and 'clunk click every trip' an ad advocating seat belt use, Jimmy was a fascinating person. He claimed to have started the first disco in 1948, was pro wrestler, and of course start presenter on the best Top The Pops there were (in the early to mid '70s) and of course, the seminal Jim'll Fix It. Kids could write in askl for their dream to be made true. Me, or my brother, can't remember which, wrote in to ask if we could go to school on the back of a camel, but Jim never fixed it for us. He earned millions for charity with his marathon running, and there's a statue of him outside Stoke Mandeville Spinal Injuries Unit, where he was a hero. He was a bit odd (see Louis Theroux's great documentary on him) but everyone loved him, and he's ceratinly a cultural icon for middle-aged kids like me.

RIP Jimmy Saville